Day trip to paris

[Cazgal]

We are hoping to have a day trip to paris when we go to DLRP at easter.

Is it easy to navigate the train station / trains ? Any info on what station to get off at etc ? Someone mentioned about a boat trip along the R Seine ... anyone know where they start from and if any stations are nearby this ?

We are hoping that a boat trip would be worthwhile doing - get to see quite a lot of the sights from the boat (taking our 7 year old and don't really fancy walking round paris all day !!) then onto the Eiffel Tower for a proper look ...

Has anyone been to paris for a day trip ? Any tips or suggestions ?

Any info at all would be welcome

 

[A Small World]

We went to Paris last february for a few days with DD who was then 7 and she loved it.

We like using the Batobus which is like a boat bus -it goes down the river and you can get on and off at various stops. - Google 'Batobus' and you'll find it. You buy a day ticket and can get on and off as many times as you want.

There is also the Bateau Mouches or Vedettes de Paris - these are trips on the river but you stay on all the time with a commentary - Again Google each one and it will give you info.

It is really easy to find your way into Paris from DLP - you cant really get lost. The nearest station to the river is Chatelet les Halles (think the train stops there) which is reasonably close to Batobus stop and one of the other boat trips.

Another good place to get off is Charles de Gaulle Etoile. This stop is at top of Champs Elysee which you can walk down (shops to look in including Dis store) which will take you down in direction of river and Tour Eiffel.

I like Tour Eiffel from a distance - wonderful from Trocadero and you can walk down towards it through the gardens then get on boats near ET. I think you can get to Trocadero by changing onto metro from Charles de Gaulle Etoile station (Yes just checked - you need line 6 Direction Nation and its 3 stops) If you buy a mobilis ticket for the train this can be used on metro all day as well.

By having a walk first it will then mean you can get on the boat when you are more tired and your feet need a rest.

There is a McDonalds at the top of Champs Elysee - near Charles de Gaulle Etoile station which we have used as a bribe in the past when walking back to the station - useful for toilet stop as well before getting back on train to DLP

 

[pommfrites]

DH & I did it twice on our recent trip...no kids with us so we spent alot of time walking, but there are ways around it...once we figured it out! I purchased Paris passes online that were good for the two days..giving us discounts and free admission to alot of places...the Louvre and Arc de Triumph were big on our list. They came with travel/metro cards that we used for the train into and out of the city both days and you can use them for the underground or buses to get around. You will still walk some, but not nearly as much as we did to start! You could also just buy the metro/travel cards online and be ready once you arrive to roll out. We had to pay to go on the Eiffel Tower and be warned the train station in front of the Tower is currently being renovated, so we had to ride one up and walk back to the Tower. It was night and unknown to us, but relatively safe as there were others heading to and from the station to the Tower. Also make sure if you decide to do an all day to late trip that you check the train schedule...when we were there we caught the train around 11pm or so and just made it back to Marne La Vallee (DLP) before it stopped running. We also had no bus to pick us up as the park closed at 7pm so we walked back to the hotel both nights. It may not have been bad if we weren't exhausted and it wasn't freezing. (I swear it was like 10 degrees colder than in the city!) Ask away for any other questions...

 

[the_princess]

We had a day trip to Paris in Dec. It is so easy to do it on your own. One train and you are right in the center of Paris. We got Orange tickets so we could use the train and metro system all day. We went to Louvre and then walked up Champs Elysee to Arc de Triumph. On the way we went to the Disney Store (we don't have a Disney Store in Denmark, so it was nice to see more Disney) Then we went to the Eiffel Tower, after that we had dinner and then straight back to DLP...

 

[kbirc]

You can get the Train from DLP straight through to the Charles De Gaulle Etoile station which then links up with Metro Lines that will take you to the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe and other tourist sites.

It is really easy to manage even with young kids in tow.

 

[Cazgal]

Thanks for the feedback and suggestions :0

Is it worthwhile getting a train timetable / map and an paris map before we go so that we can suss out which stations etc to get off at ?

What sort of time did you head out to paris ... we are hoping perhaps on thatday to have a bit of a lie in (fat chance with our 7 year old but you can hope) and aim to get at the station for 9.30am ish ...... arriving in paris around 10.15am ish (I think ??). That would give us loads of time .. and will be a nice break from the madness of the parks.

Our plan is to go day 3 of our 5 day stay ... so will be a break from the Parks.

Would you recommend seeing the sights in any particular order ? Or just do whatever and whenever ?

 

[A Small World]

If you google paris metro it will give you a map of the metro and RER (train you get from DLP to Paris) The trains are regular but I think you can also look at the times by googling as well (What would we do without Google)

We did a day trip from DLP last Juky and were later setting off then planned so it was almost lunchtime when we got into Paris. We didnt stay as long as planned either as the Tour de France was ending that day so it was heaving (worse than DLP)

As for which order to do attractions- If you want to go up ET the queues build up through the day so the earlier you can get there the better however if you are just looking at attractions (which is often just as good) I would say do whichever order suits you and do which is most important to see first then work from there. Try and have a bit of a plan though (and a back up plan for if you want to change your mind)

 

[kbirc]

Thanks for the feedback and suggestions :0

Is it worthwhile getting a train timetable / map and an paris map before we go so that we can suss out which stations etc to get off at ?

What sort of time did you head out to paris ... we are hoping perhaps on thatday to have a bit of a lie in (fat chance with our 7 year old but you can hope) and aim to get at the station for 9.30am ish ...... arriving in paris around 10.15am ish (I think ??). That would give us loads of time .. and will be a nice break from the madness of the parks.

Our plan is to go day 3 of our 5 day stay ... so will be a break from the Parks.

Would you recommend seeing the sights in any particular order ? Or just do whatever and whenever ?

The Trains and indeed Metro are very regular, even if you miss one there will be another soon could be every 15 mins, although don't quote me on that!

We found the Paris public transport very easy to use and made our sight seeing trip easy to fit in to one day.

 

[clarkes]

Hi,

we are off to DLP at the weekend and wanted to take a day trip to Paris, to show the children a few sights (Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame etc). What is the best/cheapest way of doing this. Has anyone done it before. Any advice would be appreciated. Don't want to bore the children too much but thought that as we have been to DLP 3 times before they wouldn't mind a half day out to Paris.

Thanks

 

[Shimmigirl]

I'd take a river boat from Notre Dame if the westher is good - I think they are bateau mouche - but you should be able to google river trips on the seine.
You can see all the sights along the river including eiffel tower, and even get out there and have a walk around.

If you have more than a half day - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jardin_d'Acclimatation - this park is a lovely way to spend the afternoon, there is a small museum for children, a gymkana club, excellent adventure play area, different amusements (some free) e.g hall of mirrors.
There is an aviary and loads of space to run around and burn of energy.
The are also some nice restaurants / cafes in the park - we found one that sold the best hot dogs ever in french sticks - yum!

 

[Winterfee]

or try this

http://www.pariserve.com/cityrama/sightseeing_tours_paris/open-tour.html

You can take the RER at Disney to Paris to the first station of the tour. The lady in the Tourist Office at the Disney Train Station (outside ) is very very helpful.

We intended to do it last year with our 3 years old (she loves buses and trains) but the weather was too bad...

Regards,
Winterfee

 

[A Small World]

You can get the RER from DLP to Paris - You can buy a Mobilis ticket for zones 1-5 costs €12.50 each (cheaper for children) This will get you there and back and allow you to use the metro when in Paris.

There are several places in Paris where you could get off to see the sights.

You could get off at Charles de Gaulle Etoile which is by the Arc de Triomphe and then walk down the Champs Elysee towards the river and the Louvre.

Or you could get off at same stop and take metro a couple of stops to Trocadero where you can then look down on Eiffel Tower (in my opinion this is teh best view of the Tower) and walk down through the park towards it

Or yo could get off at Chatelet les Halles then again get metro a few stops to Ile de la Cite where you wil find Notre Dame.

Google Paris metro for maps

The Bateaux Mouches or Bateaux Parisiennes usually tend to be guided trips but we often use the Batobus which you can get on and off. You could get on at Eiffel Tower then go down river to Notre Dame and get off there explore then back on again.

Google Batobus for more info

 

[Cyrano]

Hi clarkes and welcome to DLP DIS board
We are a friendly bunch here so please join in on any other thread or if you have a number of questions then just start a new thread for each

If you have not had a look yet, DLP posting rules are here, DIS posting guidelines can be found here.

 

[pommfrites]

We are hoping to have a day trip to paris when we go to DLRP at easter.

Is it easy to navigate the train station / trains ? Any info on what station to get off at etc ? Someone mentioned about a boat trip along the R Seine ... anyone know where they start from and if any stations are nearby this ?

We are hoping that a boat trip would be worthwhile doing - get to see quite a lot of the sights from the boat (taking our 7 year old and don't really fancy walking round paris all day !!) then onto the Eiffel Tower for a proper look ...

Has anyone been to paris for a day trip ? Any tips or suggestions ?

Any info at all would be welcome

DH & I did it twice on our recent trip...no kids with us so we spent alot of time walking, but there are ways around it...once we figured it out! I purchased Paris passes online that were good for the two days..giving us discounts and free admission to alot of places...the Louvre and Arc de Triumph were big on our list. They came with travel/metro cards that we used for the train into and out of the city both days and you can use them for the underground or buses to get around. You will still walk some, but not nearly as much as we did to start! You could also just buy the metro/travel cards online and be ready once you arrive to roll out. We had to pay to go on the Eiffel Tower and be warned the train station in front of the Tower is currently being renovated, so we had to ride one up and walk back to the Tower. It was night and unknown to us, but relatively safe as there were others heading to and from the station to the Tower. Also make sure if you decide to do an all day to late trip that you check the train schedule...when we were there we caught the train around 11pm or so and just made it back to Marne La Vallee (DLP) before it stopped running. We also had no bus to pick us up as the park closed at 7pm so we walked back to the hotel both nights. It may not have been bad if we weren't exhausted and it wasn't freezing. (I swear it was like 10 degrees colder than in the city!) Ask away for any other questions...

 

[pommfrites]

Hi,

we are off to DLP at the weekend and wanted to take a day trip to Paris, to show the children a few sights (Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame etc). What is the best/cheapest way of doing this. Has anyone done it before. Any advice would be appreciated. Don't want to bore the children too much but thought that as we have been to DLP 3 times before they wouldn't mind a half day out to Paris.

Thanks

DH & I did it twice on our recent trip...no kids with us so we spent alot of time walking, but there are ways around it...once we figured it out! I purchased Paris passes online that were good for the two days..giving us discounts and free admission to alot of places...the Louvre and Arc de Triumph were big on our list. They came with travel/metro cards that we used for the train into and out of the city both days and you can use them for the underground or buses to get around. You will still walk some, but not nearly as much as we did to start! You could also just buy the metro/travel cards online and be ready once you arrive to roll out. We had to pay to go on the Eiffel Tower and be warned the train station in front of the Tower is currently being renovated, so we had to ride one up and walk back to the Tower. It was night and unknown to us, but relatively safe as there were others heading to and from the station to the Tower. Also make sure if you decide to do an all day to late trip that you check the train schedule...when we were there we caught the train around 11pm or so and just made it back to Marne La Vallee (DLP) before it stopped running. We also had no bus to pick us up as the park closed at 7pm so we walked back to the hotel both nights. It may not have been bad if we weren't exhausted and it wasn't freezing. (I swear it was like 10 degrees colder than in the city!) Ask away for any other questions...

 

[Cyrano]

Since both threads about a day trip to Paris were beside each other it made sense to combine them since both OP's will benefit from the replies

 

[Cazgal]

Thank you